The Pitre family's take on nontraditional Christmas celebrations always includes a family trip. 

Christmas is known as the greatest time of the year for many reasons: the chilly weather (hopefully), the colorful presents, the time-and-a-half pay. In Acadiana, however, Christmas is renowned for the food, the parades and the quality time spent with family.

Though this is the norm for those in south Louisiana, the Pitres are a tight-knit family who choose to live life to the fullest. Lance and Kelly Pitre, the heads of the Pitre household, are two active members of their community. Every year, all twelve of them, including their two daughters, four sons, their son-in-law and three dogs, travel out of state the night after Christmas to get away and spend quality time together.

The Pitres do not have one usual destination for traveling. Instead, they try to spice things up every year and go to a different state. Among others, they have travelled to Oklahoma, Florida, Georgia and Alabama. They focus on outdoor locations so they can spend time doing their favorite outdoor activities, which include camping and hiking with their dogs Cecil, Scruffy and Poppy. Matthew Pitre, the eldest son of the Pitre family, said the hardest part about bringing the dogs is having to stop on the way to their destination. But, the best part is that they are always right there, sitting on top of them.

Matthew added, “I look forward to the get-away, but the one thing I appreciate most is the ability to actually spend quality time with the family without obligation. Most people don’t often get to just sit down for a week and be present with their families.”

On these vacations, the Pitres have a sibling cookoff. In the cookoff, each of the six children, and their significant others, cook a new dish and are judged for three categories: expense, presentation and taste. They also get bonus points in the competition for giving Kelly’s “baby,” their dog Cecil, some treats on the way to their destination.

Heidi Pitre Dischler, the eldest daughter in the Pitre family, said, “The cookoff is always my favorite part about the trip, especially when you get bragging rights for winning.”

“We have cooked things like pizzas in a blanket, potatoes au gratin with cabbage, that was a fun one, and all kinds of other things. The winners for the past few years have been me, Heidi and Nic,” Matthew said proudly. His favorite dish was made in Kentucky when he whipped up cabbage and potatoes.

On these family vacations, they also make it a point to make at least one attempt at solving an Escape Room. Heidi said, “We try, even though we’re terrible at teamwork sometimes.”

The Pitres have the right idea: traveling with family and bonding over shared interests is a great way to spend the greatest time of the year.